Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- German President Joachim Gauck said
that Europeans don’t need to fear German domination and that no
one in his country is imposing a “diktat” on the rest of the
continent of 500 million.

Gauck, whose role is largely ceremonial, used a rare
televised speech in Berlin today to acknowledge that Germany has
“created much fear” since its 1990 reunification to become
Europe’s biggest economy and during the debt crisis in the 17-nation euro area.

German society “has shown itself to be rational and
mature” by avoiding any populist anti-European groundswell, he
said. “In Germany, more Europe doesn’t mean a German Europe. To
us, more Europe means a European Germany.”

Gauck’s decision to choose Europe as the theme of his first
major foray into the political sphere since his election by a
special assembly in March last year underscores the dilemma felt
by German officials including Chancellor Angela Merkel over the
country’s role as Europe’s chief decision-maker and principal
contributor to euro-area rescues.

Protesters in Greece and other countries in Europe battered
by the crisis have compared Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble to Nazis attempting to achieve through an insistence
on austerity what Adolf Hitler failed to do during World War II.

Gauck defended Merkel against vilification in euro-area
countries where she is blamed for austerity-led policies.

“I was shocked to see how quickly perceptions became
distorted, as if today’s Germany stood in the tradition of
German imperialism, even of German crimes,” Gauck said. “I
don’t see any one among German policy makers who is seeking a
German diktat.”

Gauck acknowledged public “frustration” across the
European Union, including concern at what is seen as German-French domination of the bloc and the proliferation of
“Brussels technocrats.” The crisis in the euro area has
brought Europe to a crossroads, raising questions that go beyond
the economy to encompass the future direction of the continent,
he said.

There is a need to spell out “what does more Europe mean,
what Europe should look like,” Gauck said. “What are its
boundaries?” and “how can we win back trust” lost during the
debt crisis in the 17 euro nations, he said.

He appealed to policy makers to press ahead with closer
financial and economic cooperation, since without moves toward
deeper integration “a common currency can survive only with
difficulty.” European official must go further and work for a
common foreign, security and defense policy, on the environment
and social policy such as migration and demography.

While questions must be asked to help Europe advance, the
continent’s existence as a bloc has not been thrown into doubt
by the crisis that began in Greece, Gauck said. The bloody wars
that nearly destroyed Europe cannot be allowed to repeat
themselves, he said.

“Even if individual rescue measures were to fail, the
overall European project isn’t at risk,” he said.